The Best Book I’ve Read So Far This Year

The current number one hit. Can you hear that in Casey Kasem’s voice?

Some quotes:

Oh, what a glorious day it will be when we are no longer clumsy in our redemption. On that day, redemption will have no name because there will be no need for her.

Methods should be a garnish for transcendent truth.

… isn’t that the core of our temptation? To put ourselves at the center of our story while pushing others to the margins. While we are hoarding spaces, we fail to recognize that there is enough affirmation for us all.

The same talent that can help us shape the world for Christ can be used to carve dark idols …. We all have gold and shadow.

[I]n real life, if evil were so easily discernible, no one would fall for it. In the real world, heroes cast shadows. Villains can have admirable qualities.

We shouldn’t ignore the shadows of those we love … it’s a sober reminder that we are messy people living in a messy society.

We must be vigilant in resisting a Jesus who seems to say only what we want to hear or a gospel that perpetuates ideals that benefit only our existing cultural structures. No matter who we are, the gospel should challenge us.

Folklore is, of course, the “low” culture of a community. It’s the art that isn’t in museums. The rhymes kids chant that will never grace a bound book. And it can shape us.

One way that economic and social disparities are ignored in Christianity is our normalizing of methods from churches with an abundance of resources.